Roald Aas tied with Yevgeni Grishin for the Olympic 1500 m title in 1960. 8 years earlier he had won the bronze medal on the same distance. On both occasions he could have won the distance (alone) if the weather conditions had been in his favour. In 1952 the leading time of Hjalmar Andersen was not too good, and everybody thought Aas could have a chance. But it started snowing, and the conditions did not allow Aas to beat the time of Hjallis. In 1960 there was heavy wind when Aas skated. Grishin had much less wind during his race, but a gust of wind in his last lap lost him his 3 seconds lead on Aas. After the race Grishin agreed he had been very lucky with the conditions, and he thought Aas did a much better race than he did.

Aas was born in Oslo, and he was the second best Norwegian skater during most of his career. First he skated in the shadow of Hjalmar Andersen, and later in the shadow of Knut Johannesen. He was nine times medalist in the Norwegian Championships, but he only once managed to be the champion (1956).

He was also a great cyclist, becoming Norwegian champion in both road and track racing in 1956. This year he was also awarded "Egebergs Ærespris" (Honorary Price of Egeberg) for his achievements in speed skating and cycling.

Highest rank on the Adelskalender: 13 (1959)

By Bjarte Hetland, last updated November 26, 2005